Researchers at the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) found that the circulating endothelial cells (CECs) which line the arteries become abnormally large and misshapen in very early stages of a heart attack.

The study which involved 50 heart attack patients demonstrated that they had between 12 and 51 CECs per milliliter of blood on average. In healthy people the rate is between two and five CECs, says the report published in the Science Translational Medicine journal

CECs found in heart attack patients were also more likely to be misshapen, abnormally large and containing multiple nuclei.

The findings can be considered as reliable indicators of an impending heart attack and a potential base for developing a predictive test, said Eric Topol and colleagues.

“The ability to diagnose an imminent heart attack has long been considered the holy grail of cardiovascular medicine,” Topol added.

“Right now we can only test to detect if a patient is currently experiencing or has recently experienced a heart attack,” said co-author Raghava Gollapudi.

It may take one or two years to develop a commercial test that can be used in emergency rooms to determine if a patient is on the cusp of a heart attack or about to experience one in the next couple of weeks, he added.